Resilient support for pipes and the like



, E. F. RIESING RESILIENT SUPPORT FOR PIPES AND THE LlEKE July 20, 1943.

Original Filed March 16, 1940 HEM 7 ATTORNEYS Patented July 20, 1943 RESILIENT SUPPORT FOR PIPES AND THE LIKE E llwood F. Riesing, Akron, Ohio, assignor to Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Original application March 16, 1940, Serial No.

324,340, now Patent No. 2,290,621, dated July 21,

1941, Serial No. 387,555

4 Claims.

This invention relates to resilient supports for pipes and the like, and more especially it reiates to devices for resiliently suspending vibrating pipes in an improved manner.

The invention is of primary utility in the supporting of the muffier and/or the exhaust' pipe of a motor vehicle, especially in vehicles wherein the motor is supported on rubber mountings and. thus is free to oscillate relatively of the frame of the vehicle. The invention also permits the necessary movement in the exhaust pipe and mufiler relatively to the vehicle frame when the latter is sprung out of normal alignment, as when one wheel of the vehicle passes over an obstruction. The invention also is designed with the view to conditions arising when the exhaust pipe is longitudinally elongated due to thermal expansion, which elongation frequently amounts to as much as one-quarter inch.

The chief objects of the invention are to provide an improved pipe support of the character mentioned that will prevent the transmission of high frequency vibration between a vibrating structure and its supporting structure; to provide a safety construction whereby there will not be complete separation of the supported and the supporting members upon complete failure of the rubber that constitutes the resilient element of the, device of the invention; to provide a device of the character mentioned wherein the rubber of the structure is spaced at an adequate distance from the supported structure so as not seriously to be aifected by the heat thereof; to provide a support of the character mentioned comprising rubber, and so arranged with relation to the frame of the vehicle and the exhaust pipe that elongation of the latter due to thermal expansion imparts tension to said rubber; to provide a mechanical interlock of rubber and metal such as to prevent separation thereof even if failure of adhesion between the rubber and metal should occur; and to provide a resilient support of the character mentioned that provides increasing resistance to deformation in one direction at least. Other objects will be manifest as the description proceeds.

This application is a division of prior application for Letters Patent, Serial Number 324,340, filed March 16, 1940, now U. S. Patent Number 2,290,621, issued July 21, 1942.

Of the accompanying drawing:

Figure I is an elevation of an embodiment of the invention in the form usually employed at the front end of an exhaust pipe for supporting the same, said exhaust pipe and a portion of Divided and this application April 9,

the vehicle frame being shown in operative association therewith;

FiIgure II is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure Figure III is a plan view of the resilient support shown in Figure I; and

Figure IV is a section similar to Figure II showing another embodiment of the invention.

In motor vehicles of usual construction, an exhaust pipe extends rearwardly from the motor and discharges into the front end of a muifler, and'the latter discharges into a tail pipe that extends from the rear thereof to the rear end of the vehicle. The exhaust pipe and tail pipe are supported from various parts of the frame of the vehicle, and sometimes extend through apertures in said frame. Exhaust gases from the motor are very hot, and as a consequence, the exhaust piping and muiiler become heated, with resulting thermal expansion of said piping. Since the exhaust piping is connected to the motor at the front end of the car, and said motor is substantially fixed in position with relation to the frame of the vehicle, it follows that elongation of the exhaust piping due to thermal expansion must be in the direction of the rear of the vehicle. The pipe supports constituting the subject matter of this invention are interposed between the vehicle frame and the exhaust piping to support the latter from the frame, and are so positioned with relation to the frame that elongation of the piping, due to thermal expansion, willresult in the imparting of tension to the rubber constituent of the pipe-support, which condition has been found most satisfactory for the proper functioning of the supports.

Thus in the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawing, the resilient supports are attached to the rear faces of the frame members.

Referring now to Figures I to III of the drawing, there is shown a portion of an inverted or downwardly opening channel II! that constitutes one of the cross members of a motor vehicle frame, said channel having relatively narrow latterally extending flanges Illa at its lower margins, and a section of an exhaust pipe H. The latter extends through the respective webs of the channel III, which webs are formed with respective apertures l2 to receive the pipe. The apertures ii are of substantially larger diameter than the pipe H so that vibration of the pipe will not cause it to strike the margins of the apertures.

The resilient support comprises two identical units that are disposed on opposite sides of the pipe II and are secured to the latter and to the channel III on one side of said channel. Each of said supporting units comprises an attaching plate I4 that is secured to the channel III by means of a bolt I5, and a supporting plate I6 that is secured to the pipe I I, and an intervening body of resilient rubber composition II that is bonded to each of said plates by being vulcanized thereto. Plates I4, IBare of strip form, that is, of greater length than width, and both preferably are brass plated to improve the bond of the rubber structure II thereto.

The attaching plate I4 is an angular structure having a vertically disposed portion that abuts a web of channel Ill, and having a horizontal portion I4a formed integral with its lower end and projecting at right' angles therefrom to a position below the lower end of plate I6; said portion I4a preferably resting upon one of the narrow flanges Illa of channel III. The vertical portion of plate I4 is offset in its medial region so that the lower half thereof stands in spaced relation to the adjacent face of the web of channel Ill. The vertical portion of plate I4 is formed with apertures I8, I8 the lowermost of which is disposed in the offset portion of the plate, the upper aperture receiving the bolt I5 by which the plate is secured to the channel III.

The metal plate I6 is shorter than the plate I4 and is bent at right angles substantially midway between its ends, one, end portion being horizontally disposed, and the other end portion extending substantially vertically and downwardly, pref erably parallel to the vertical portion of plate I4 and in spaced relation thereto, the lower end of 1 the plate I6 being disposed somewhat above the horizontal portion of plate I4. The respective end portions of plate I6 are formed with apertures 20, of which the aperture in the horizontalportion of the plate receives a bolt 2| by means of which the plate is secured to the pipe II.

For securing the supporting units to the pipe II, a two-piece clamp is mounted upon the latter, said clamp comprising straps 23, that have respective arcuate medial portions adapted to embrace the pipe from opposite sides thereof, and laterally extending end portions 23a, 230., the end portions of one clamp section being parallel to the end portions of the opposing clamp section andin confronting relation thereto. The end portions of the plates I6 are disposed immediately below the end portions 23a of the respective clamp elements so that the latter rest thereon, the bolts II extending through the plate ends and clamp ends so as to apply the clamp firmly to the pipe I I and to secure the respective supporting units to said clamp.

In each supporting unit, the rubber body I1 is disposed between the plates I4, I6 and is chemically and mechanically secured to each of them. The top face of the rubber body I! slopes somewhat obliquely downwardly from the top face of the plate I6 to the intermediate region of the vertically disposed portion of plate I4. The bottom face of the rubber body II covers the lower end of plate I6, and slopes obliquely downwardly therefrom toward the horizontal portion I4a of plate I4, which portion has a layer of rubber I'Ia upon its top face, said layer IIa. being integral with the rubber body II. The bottom face of the rubber body II intersects the portion I'Ia at an 1 acute angle, the arrangement being such that said surfaces are moved progressively into engagement with each other when the rubber body is deformed by downward movement of the plate IS relatively of the plate I4. The rubber body I'I extends through apertures I8, 20 in the respective plates I4, I5 and is formed with rivets or buttons 25 on the opposite sides of said plates. The buttons 25 are bonded to the metal plates and provide a. mechanical interlock of the rubber and metal. The interlock is strong enough to support the load to be carried bythe support even if there should be complete failure of the chemical bond of the rubber to the metal, such as sometimes occurs due to the extreme heat of the exhaust pipe which may be conducted through the metal of the support to the body of rubber. The button 25 on the back of plate I4 is confined between the latter and the adjacent face of the channel IIl, whereby deformation of the button, such as would occur before it could be pulled through aperture I8, effectively is opposed. The fact that the horizontal portion I4a of plate I4 extends to-a point below the lower end of plate I6 constitutes a safety feature that will function in case there should be complete separation of the rubber body from either plate I4 or IE, in which case the plate I6 would come to rest on the portion I4a of plate I4 and further drop of the pipe II would be prevented.

It is also desirable that the rubber bodies I! offer progressively increasing resistance to lateral deflection of the supporting and the supported members, and to this end the lower, offset portion of each attaching plate I4 is formed, on the lateral margin thereof that is remote from pipe I6, with an integral flange I4b that extends obliquely outwardly to a position at the side of a rubber body IT. The arrangement is such that lateral displacement of the pipe I I in either direction brings one of the rubber bodies I! into contact with the adjacent flange I'Ib, the area of con tact progressively increasing in direct proportion to the extent of deflection of the rubber body and thereby effecting progressively increasing resistance to further deflection.

As previously stated, a chief object of the invention is to prevent the transmission of high frequency vibration from a supported structure to a supporting structure. In motor vehicles, for which the mounting constituting the subject matter of the invention is especially applicable, primary vibration of the exhaust pipe is set up by reason of the vibration of the motor, resulting from combustion in the engine cylinders, and secondary vibration is. set up by uneven roadways. In the present invention, the problem of preventing the transmission of high frequency vibration to the frame and body of the vehicle is solved by providing a resilient mounting having a low natural vibration frequency. Preferably the natural frequency of vibration of the mounting is not greater than one-third the frequency of vibration of the disturbing force, the latter being the vibration of the motor. To this end the rubber structures ll of the mounting are composed of rubber composition that is soft and resilient and has a high static deflection under normal load, which in the case of the mounting illustrated is ten to fifteen pounds. The natural frequency of vibration of th mounting is a function of its static deflection, and said frequency of vibration is inversely proportional to the magnitude of static deflection according to physical formula. Thus by providing high static deflection of the mounting, the natural frequency of vibration thereof is reduced well below the frequency of the disturbing vibrations of the 'motor, and no high the invention provides a safe, simple, and economical support for a hot exhaust pipe for motor vehicles, which readily permitsrelative movement between the pipe and the frame of the vehicle in all directions. The rubber bodies I"! are positioned far enough from the hot exhaust pipe as not to be seriously affected by the radiation of heat therefrom. Since the rubber bodies I! are so constructed as to offer progressively increasing resistance to deflection, there is no jar or bottoming upon sudden temporary excessive deflection resulting from uneven roadways. The invention efiectively prevents the transmission of high frequency vibration between supported and supporting structures and achieves the other advantages set out in the foregoing statment of objects.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Figure IV of the drawing, is essentially similar to that previously described but is especially adapted for use in situations where the supporting channel differs from the channel Ill. The channel 28 shown in Figure IV is a laterally opening channelv that has a laterally projecting horizontally disposed flange 28a on its lower margin, said flange being substantially wider than the flange a of the previously described embodiment of the invention. The resilient mounting difiers from the previously described mounting principally in the supporting plates thereof that are attachable to the channel 28. Each of said supporting plates, designated 30, is a vertically disposed metal strip that has its lower portion laterally offset from the upper portion, the lower margin of the plate being arranged to rest upon the flange 28a of the channel 28. The rubber body .1 of the mounting is essentially similar to the rubber body I'l previously described except thatits bottom face slopes downwardly to the lower margin of plate 30, but does not cover the same.

The arrangement is such that the flange 28a of the channel 28 serves substantially the same purpose as the horizontal portion Ma of the supporting plate ll of the previously described mounting. Said flange 28a is arranged for progressive engagement with the bottom face of rubber body 3| upon excessive deflection of the latter, and it underlies the lower end of supporting plate 16 so as to constitute a safety feature in case there is complete separation of the rubber body from the supporting plates.

Other modification may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:'

1. The combination which comprises a supporting structure, a supported structure fixedly mounted at one end and subject to elongation due to thermal expansion causing it to move relatively or the supporting structure, a pair of plates disposed in the same plane and secured to said supporting structure, a pair of plates disposed in a common plane and secured to said supported structure in parallelism with respective first mentioned plates and so positioned at the side of the latter as to move away therefrom, in the direction normal to the planes of the plates, upon thermal elongation of the supported structure, and a pair of rubber bodies disposed between said second named plates and said first named plates and bonded to each of them, each of said rubber bodies being adapted to be put under tension by such elongation of the supported structure, and to be deflected in a direction transversely of the direction of tension by reason of relative movement of the plates in their respective planes.

2. A resilient support of the character described comprising a metal plate attachable to a supporting structure, a metal plate attachable to a supported structure and spaced laterally from said first mentioned plate, a body of resilient rubber between said plates and bonded to each of them, means obliquely disposed with relation to the bottom face of the rubber body adapted progressively to be engaged thereby upon excessive deflection of the body in a vertical direction, 'and a flange on one of said plates extending obliquely to a side of the rubber body and adapted progressively to engage a lateral face of the latter upon relative lateral movement of the plates in a horizontal direction.

3. A combination as defined in claim 2 wherein the resilient supports are arranged in pairs, and the oblique flanges of the two plates are arranged to engagethe rubber bodies alternatively according to the direction of relative lateral movement of the plates horizontally.

4. The combination which comprises a supporting structure, a supported structure fixedly mounted at one end and subject to elongation due to thermal expansion causing it to move relatively of the supporting structure, a pair of plates disposed in the same plane and secured to said supporting structure, each of said plates formed with a flange perpendicular thereto, a pair of plates disposed in a common plane and secured to said supported structure in parallelism with respective first mentioned plates and so positioned at the side of the latter as to move away therefrom, in the direction normal to the planes of the plates, upon thermal elongation of the supported structure, and a pair of rubber bodies disposed between said second named plates and said first named plates and bonded to each of them, each of said rubber bodies hav-- ing an oblique surface in substantially the same plane tending progressively to move into contact with a plate-flange as load is applied to said supported structure, each of said rubber bodies being arranged to be put under tension by thermal elongation of the supported structure, and to be deflected in a direction transversely of the direction of tension by reason of relative movement of the plates in their respective planes.

ELLWOOD F. RIESING. 

